Rapid-fire gun



May 1945. 5 HANSEN 2,374,816

RAPID-FIRE GUN Filed May 18; 1942 INVENTOR Patented May l, 1945 narran sTaTes TATENT OFFICE RAPID-FIRE GUN Sern L. Hansen, Northfield, Ohio Application May 18, 1942, Serial No. 443,355

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of rapid-nre guns and is designed to shoot naked bullets, that is, without any shell or powder.

In my present form of device, I have combined the barrel of a gun with an internal combustion engine in such a way and the operations are so timed that I am able to utilize the force oicompression of one of the engine cylinders as a means of positioning the bullets one at a time within the bore of the gun barrel, after which the force of combustion within the same chamber is utilized as a means of discharging the bullets from the barrel in rapid succession. I have provided means for feeding the bullets to the rear end of the gun barrel preparatory to positioning them within the barrel for ring; and the succeeding operations of positioning and ring the bullets may be continued by the engine without requiring any attention or manipulation by the gunner except to aim the gun. That is, when once set into operation, it may be continued indenitely at the same rapid rate of ring so long as the engine continues to function and so long as the supply of bullets lasts.

In the patent to Beck et al., No. 645,932, there was disclosed the idea of utilizing the force of combustion of gaseous fuel as a means of discharging a bulletvfrom a gun; but in this patented device, it is necessary to pull the trigger each time a bullet is red.

In the patent to Pettys, No. 1,357,513, there is another form of disclosure of the idea of utilizing the force of combustion in an internal combustion engine as a means of discharging a bullet; but in this patent there is provided a separate cylinder and piston, in addition to the engine itself, for the purpose of firing the bullet. In the present device, the bullet is positioned and red by the forces within one of the cylinders of the same engine which is employed for operating the device.

Accordingly, the object of my invention is to devise such a rapid-nre gun that can be operated from one of the cylinders of an internal combustion engine, without requiring any additional or separate cylinder for this purpose.

Another object consists in providing such a device in which the firing may be discontinued without stopping the engine operation, thereby precluding the necessity of starting the engine every time that it is desired to resume iiring after a short interruption.

Another object consists 'in the timing arrangement between the bullet-positioning means and the ring of the bullets so that the bullet may be positioned by the force of the'compression but without otherwise interfering with the closed condition of the cylinder chamber.

It is also an object to devise such a rapid-iire gun that is comparatively simple and inexpensive in its structure and operation.

Other objects will appear from the following description and claims when considered together with the accompanying drawing.

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional View through the gun and its operating means;

Fig. 2 is a partial front end View of the device;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the bullet-positioning disk and its operating connection, the disk being here shown in a different position from that shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a partial plan view and Shows the mechanism for interrupting the ring without stopping the engine;

Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 are views of the faces of the disks embodied in the mechanism shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 'I is a rear end elevation of the device and is shown as including a modified form of means for supplying the bullets;

Fig. 8 is a partial detail' view of the modiiied form of means for supplying the bullets, as indicated in Fig. 7 also; and

Fig. 9 is an enlargement of part of Fig. l.

It is to be understood .that the present form `of disclosure is merely for the purpose of illustration and that there might be devised various modifications thereof without departing from the spirit of the invention as herein set forth and claimed.

The base I upon which the entire gun structure is mounted may be stationary or may be part of a movable carriage or truck for easy transportation to any point desired- The gun may be turned about a Vertical axis by means of the post 2 which is provided upon the bottom of the carrier 3 and which is rotatably mounted within a suitably formed socket 4 in the base l. The carrier 3 is provided with the sockets 5 within which the casing `(i of the gun-operating mechanism may be mounted for adjustment about a horizontal axis. `In this way, there may be obtained any combined adjustment desired and the handle I is provided upon the casing 6 so as to facilitate such manipulation.

Within the casing 6 there is housed a multiplecylinder internal combustion engine, there being indicated six cylinders in the present form of illustration (see Fig. 7) although it is to be understood that the invention is not` restricted to such lof the lever 22.

number. The familiar crank shaft 8 will, of course, operate all of the pistons including the one or more which may be utilized in operation of the gun, as will be explained. In the present case, I have indicated the gun as being operated by means of but one cylinder and its piston which is here indicated by reference numeral 9. The usual cam shaft I will operate the valves, one of which is here indicated by reference numeral I I, while one of the familiar spark plugs is indicated at I2.

The barrel I3 of my gun is xedly lmounted. upon the casing of the engine and a water jacket I4 is provided for the purpose of cooling the barrel. The naked bullets I5, here shown in the form of balls, may be fed by'gravity from a hopper I6 which is mounted so as to feed the balls successively into an aperture Il in the oscillatable disk I8 mounted transversely of the gun barrel at the rear end thereof. These parts are so arranged that the aperture Iwill be brought into registry with the small lower end of the hopper outlet so as to receive one ball at a time therefrom. Then the movement of the disk: I8 will bring the ball, thus deposited therein, into alignment with the rear end of the bore of the gun barrel, the full part of the disk then closing the lower end of the hopper so as not to permit any balls to escape therefrom. Thus the balls are fed one at a time from the hopper into the disk which then moves the same into position for transfer therefrom to the rear end of the bore of the barrel by force of compression. Such positioning of the ball in the bore is determined by a slight restriction therein which might be provided by stopping the rifling of the bore short of the rear end thereof. This, however, will not at all hinder the discharge of the ball by the force of combustion which then follows. Disk I8 is mounted on shaft I9 within the auxiliary casing and is operated through the rod 2t which is connected thereto at the point 2l and which is operated from the bell-crank lever 22 mounted upon shaft 23 for rocking movement thereabout. Upon the end of this lever 22 there is the roller 24 which engages within the eccentric slot 25 in disk 2S fixed on the cam shaft. This eccentric slot is so designed as to give the desired timed movement to the disk I8 for oscillation in the manner explained. Ring Ida is held in sealing engagement with the disk I3 by spring I8b 'so as to prevent escape of gas at this point.

In case it should be desired to temporarily cease firing without stopping the engine, this may be done by shifting the roller 2li out of engagement with slot 25, the readily accessible hand lever 21 being provided for this purpose, At the same time, lever 22 is shifted so as to bring roller 24a into engagement with the circular groove 28 in disk 29 which is also fixed on the cam shaft; with the result that lever 22 will then continue to occupy the same position and there will not be any oscillatory movement of disk i8. The face of disk 29 is formed with a ramp so as to guide the roller 24a into the concentric groove, no matter what may be the position of roller 24 in eccentric groove 25 at the moment of such shifting Lever 2l is pivoted at 21a.

Instead of the funnel-shaped hopper I for the balls, Figs. 7 and 8 indicate a removable magazine consisting of a spiral tube 30 which holds the balls and which is of sufficiently steep pitch and diameter for the balls to feed by gravity and without danger of sticking. At the lower end of the spiral tube 30 there is a throat portion 3| which is adapted for removable attachment to an upward extension from the auxiliary casing and with which the aperture I1 of the disk I8 is adapted to be brought into registry. While the magazine is detached, as in Fig, 8, the balls I5 are prevented from escape therefrom by means of the two balls 34 within the throat portion 3l, the restricted passage at the side of the throat preventing the balls 34 from falling into the throat opening but permitting them to fall only partially thereinto so as to close the throat opening against the escape of the balls I5, thereby permitting the re-lling of the magazine. Then, upon attachment of a re-flll magazine, insertion of the extension 32 into the throat portion 3l will move the balls 34 out ofthe path of the outlet opening so that the balls I5 can then feed by gravity therethrough. Thus the outlet of the magazine is opened by attaching the same and is closed by removal of the same.

While I have herein referred to only one barrel being provided in this gun, there may be prow vided more than one barrel. The number of barrels with respect to the number of cylinders in the engine will be determined by the consideration that there must be a sufficiently large number of cylinders remaining for smooth operation of the ball-positioning disk I8.

If, for instance, there be provided two barrels with a four-cycle engine operating at 3,000 revolutions per minute, there will be fired 1,500 shots each minute from each barrel, each barrel shooting every other revolution.

Thus I have devised a comparatively simple form of gun that can nre naked bullets at'a rapid rate, thereby eliminating the use of powder and shell. Other advantages will appear from the above explanation as to its structure and operation.

What I claim is:

l. In a rapid-fire gun, the combination of a barrel from which naked bullets may be discharged, means for placing the bullets in preliminary position at the rear end of the barrel and in line With the bore thereof, a multiple-cylinder internal combustion engine having the compression chamber of at least one of its cylinders in communication with the space occupied by the successive bullets when in preliminary position, said bullet-positioning means having a bullet-receiving aperture to be brought into registry with the bore of the gun barrel and having an imperforate portion to be brought alternately across the rear end of the bore of the barrel, operative connection between said bullet-positioning means and said engine, and means for timing the operation of said bullet-positioning means so that the bullets will be transferred therefrom by the force of compression through said aperture at the last part of the compression stroke so as to force the bullet into firing position within the barrel and will be discharged therefrom by the force of combustion through the same said aperture, and the chamber will be closed by said full portion at all othertimes so as to permit operation thereof in the normal manner.

2. In a rapid-fire gun, the combination of a barrel from which naked bullets are discharged, means for feeding the bullets successively to preliminary position at the rear end of and in line with the bore of the gun barrel, a multiple-cylinder internal combustion engine having the compression ohamber of at least one of its cylinders in communication with the space occupied by the successive bullets when in preliminary position,

said bullet-positioning meansA including a rotatable disk having an eccentric groove and companion mechanism for actuation thereby for timing the operation of said bullet-feeding means with 'respect to the compression and combustion strokes of said one lpiston at least, so that the bullets will be positioned successively within the barrel of the gunv by force of compression and red therefrom by force of combustion Within said one cylinder at least, a rotatable disk having 10 a concentric groove for co-operation with said companion mechanism so as to continue operation of the engine without ring of the bullets, and means for interchangeably connecting and disconnecting said eccentric and concentric disks, respectively, operatively to and from said companion mechanism so that the ring of bullets can be discontinued temporarily without stopping the engine. y

SERN L. HANSEN. 

